New Caledonia court rejects China’s extradition request

Australia gifts high speed patrol vessel to Solomon Islands Police

HONIARA, 16 OCTOBER 2019 (SOLOMON STAR) – The Australian Government has gifted the first of two new special-purpose, high-speed patrol vessels to the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) for Western Border patrol and response operations. The new boat will ensure police are able to actively patrol the border area to reduce the incidence of...

Fiji appointed chair of UN working group on trafficking persons

FIJI’S Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva Ambassador Nazhat Shameem-Khan has been appointed to the position of the Chair of the Working Group (WG) on Trafficking in Persons at the United Nations Organisation for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Vienna, Austria. Ambassador Khan said it was a great honour for Fiji to...

Three on shortlist for PNG Police Commissioner

PORT MORESBY, 16 OCTOBER 2019 (POST COURIER) – Three names have been endorsed by the Parliamentary Permanent Appointment Committee for the Papua New Guinea Police Commissioner. Also on the agenda for the Committee was the Clerk of Parliament list. This was confirmed by PPAC Chairman and Hela Governor Philip Undialu. The committee met after the...

Poor diets damaging children’s health in the Pacific, warns UNICEF

SUVA, 16 OCTOBER 2019 (UNICEF PACIFIC) – An alarmingly high number of children are suffering the consequences of poor diets and a food system that is failing them, UNICEF warned today in a new report on children, food and nutrition. The State of the World’s Children 2019: Children, food and nutrition finds that globally, at...

Mission confirms safety of Fijian nationals in Japan

THE Fiji Embassy in Tokyo has established contact with Fijian nationals in Japan and has received confirmation of their safety following the devastating wake of Typhoon Hagibis – considered to be the most powerful typhoon in decades to hit Tokyo. Officials at the Fiji Embassy in Tokyo with the assistance of Fiji’s Honorary Consulate Offices throughout...

Britain to complete plan next year to reach net zero transport emissions

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain said on Tuesday it would complete a plan next year to achieve net zero emissions from all forms of transport, as climate change activists targeted the transport ministry. Britain is the first G7 country to commit to a net zero greenhouse gas emissions target for 2050. “From driving our cars, to...

Vaccine expert urges Samoa to act on measles threat

APIA, 16 OCTOBER 2019 (SAMOA OBSERVER) – With at least 15 cases of people “highly suspected” to have measles, vaccine expert Dr. Helen Petousis-Harris said people in Samoa must act quickly to get immunised, and those who have been exposed to the disease must be placed in quarantine. Dr Petousis-Harris, who is also a senior...

Fiji PM: Climate change is the single greatest threat to livelihood

CLIMATE change is the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and well-being of our people, says Fiji’s Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama. He made this comment while officiating at the opening of the Asia Pacific Urban Forum 7 in Malaysia. Mr Bainimarama said since its inception, the forum had been able to recognise the reality...

Ministry of Health declares measles epidemic in Samoa

APIA, 16 OCTOBER 2019 (SAMOA OBSERVER) – Samoa’s Ministry of Health (MOH) has declared the country is now facing a measles epidemic after results from samples sent to Australia for urgent testing have confirmed seven cases. The confirmation comes after the Samoa Observer revealed over the weekend that health authorities reported 16 suspected cases and...

FBI helping to investigate U.S lawyer’s death in Yap

YAP, 16 OCTOBER 2019 (THE GUAM DAILY POST) – The Federated States of Micronesia’s national government confirmed Tuesday that Rachelle Bergeron, an American citizen working for the FSM state of Yap as the state’s acting attorney general, has died. Her death “was the result of an alleged homicide,” the national government stated. “The State of...

Solomon Islands PM Sogavare: No more Constituency Development Funding to MPs

HONIARA, 16 OCTOBER 2019 (SOLOMON STAR) – The Chinese Government will continue with the Constituency Development Funding (CDF) support but it will not be channelled through Solomon Islands MPs. That’s according to Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare on his arrival back Tuesday from his week-long China trip. CDF was one of the controversial funding supports Taiwan...

Former PM O’Neill response to warrant of arrest

PORT MORESBY,16 OCTOBER 2019 (PNC) — Former Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill says he was not informed or presented with a warrant of arrest from any member of the Royal PNG Constabulary. In a statement, O’Neill said: “I have seen the social media statement put out by the Acting Commissioner, on the direction...

UK queen attends service for Westminster Abbey’s 750th anniversary

LONDON (Reuters) – Queen Elizabeth attended a service at London’s Westminster Abbey on Tuesday to mark 750 years since King Edward the Confessor’s original church on the site was rebuilt during the reign of Henry III and consecrated in 1269. The 93-year-old monarch was accompanied by her daughter-in-law Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, wife of her...

Rescuers slog through mud as Japan typhoon death toll rises to 66

KORIYAMA, Japan (Reuters) – The death toll in the worst typhoon to hit Japan for decades climbed to 66 on Tuesday as rescuers slogged through mud and debris in an increasingly grim search for the missing, and as thousands of homes remained without power or water. Fifteen people remain missing nearly three days after Typhoon...

Papua New Guinea police seek to arrest ex-prime minister O’Neill

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Papua New Guinea police have issued an arrest warrant for former prime minister Peter O’Neill on suspicion of “official corruption” but he was declining to cooperate with police handling the case, the acting police commissioner said. The warrant, issued last Friday, stemmed from an investigation, however police gave no details of what...

New Zealand PM Ardern steps up fight against extremist online content

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced more funding and support on Monday to target violent extremist content online, just months after an alleged white supremacist livestreamed a massacre at two mosques in Christchurch. The attack on March 15 that killed 51 Muslim worshippers was livestreamed on Facebook, and the video was...

Fossils of ‘shark-toothed’ carnivorous dinosaur found in Thailand

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Fossils of a large carnivorous dinosaur that was a top predator about 115 million years ago have been unearthed in Thailand — a brute that was among the early members of an impressive group of flesh-ripping dinosaurs known for their shark-like teeth. Scientists on Wednesday said the dinosaur, named Siamraptor suwati, was...

Shell urges collaboration with other industries to tackle emissions

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell’s chief executive took aim beyond the energy sector to call on leaders of other industries including aviation, shipping and steel to jointly draw up plans to tackle greenhouse gas emissions. Ben van Beurden also warned on Wednesday that energy companies that do not collaborate in the fight against climate...

Different views over NFP’s permit rejection

THE Fiji Police Force and the National Federation Party are at loggerheads over the circumstances that led to the rejection of the party’s application for a permit to march today. The police are insisting the application was rejected because the party failed to provide them with the required documents. Police spokeswoman Ana Naisoro said police...

Bure attacks Times; Says school fundraising was never banned

EDUCATION Ministry deputy secretary Timoci Bure has accused The Fiji Times of misquoting Education Minister Rosy Akbar. He said an article that appeared under the headline “Ban lifted” was wrong. Mr Bure said fundraising activities had never been banned. “You could fundraise but you needed permission to do so,” he said while addressing school heads...

Thousands rush to climb Australia’s Uluru ahead of ban

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Thousands of people are rushing to climb Australia’s Uluru, ignoring the calls of indigenous people to stay off what they consider a sacred monolith, before the ascent is permanently banned at the end of the month. Visitors will no longer be able to scale the Australian landmark, formerly known as Ayers Rock,...

Akbar: Initiatives against plastic use will culminate in total ban

GOVERNMENT policies including single use of plastic bags and the plastic bag levy will culminate with the total ban on the use of plastics next year, says Education Minister Rosy Akbar. Speaking at the closing of the Green Action Fund (GAF) 2019 project at the Fiji Museum in Suva this week, she said while it...

Storied Malaysian newspaper abruptly shuts after 80 years

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia’s oldest Malay-language newspaper, Utusan Malaysia, on Wednesday abruptly ceased publication and placed more than 800 employees on leave, citing declining readership and advertising revenue. Utusan was founded during British colonial rule in 1939 by Yusof Ishak, who later became Singapore’s first president. The paper played an important role in the...

Incoming top EU climate official pledges to tax polluting imports

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The EU will start work immediately on a tax on polluting foreign firms to shelter EU businesses striving to meet a goal to be climate neutral by 2050, the senior official set to take responsibility for climate in the new European Commission said on Tuesday. Frans Timmermans, who was speaking at a...

Regional